Reports

Program No.18-006

The studies of ancient DNA from the large mammals and the large aves that became extinct in the Late Pliocene and Holocene.

Report Takahiro Yonezawa

7th March, 2007 - 17th March, 2007

We discussed our planning about the studies of ancient DNA in the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPIEA). MPIEA already determined the mitochondrial genomes of several species. However other species of them are very promising.I could not carry out the experiments, because of the schedules in this visiting. We had seminars and I talked about the importance of the model selection of the phylogenetic inference.For the phylogenetic inferences, the fossil records are the most basic and essential information. Therefore I visited the Prof. M. Wolsan, the paleontologist, and we discussed about the phylogenetic evolution and the divergence times of mammals. In there, we also had seminars and I talked about the importance of the model selection of the phylogenetic inference. This visiting resulted the warm friendship between our group and MPIEA or Polish Academy Science. The experimental skill, the method of analyses, and the fossil record are very important for the phylogenetic analyses. This visiting is thought to be the first step of the collaborations of these fields.

Prof.Wolsan: Polish Academy of Sciences

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